Things Are Brewing

A Fresh New Year

2009 was an amazing year. I cannot complain about the leaps and bounds my career took. That I would find myself in this position at the beginning of 2010 is a surprise and definitely a blessing. Yeah, there have been some rough spots, but overall it has been a fun adventure.

So what is coming up for this year?

Well, first off, I'm working with Brad of Don't Look in the Podcast on two new websites and a forum. There will be a website for all things associated with the As The World Dies Zombie Trilogy and another for information about me and my other works. A forum will also be going up soon after both websites go live. I already have two moderators ready to go. One moderator will be my good friend and upcoming writer extraordinaire, the amazing Kody Boye. The other is my diehard, self-declared Top Fan, Janet Rogers. If you have seen my facebook page and the facebook for As The World Dies, you've seen how absolutely devoted she is to the books. She's been very supportive of my career as well. She is one of the people the books have brought into my life, and I think she will be a great moderator.

My primary goal for the forum is to have a place for fans to post their views on the books, ask me questions, and discuss the characters and plots from my novels. I'm not really sure if it will catch on or not, but I've been encouraged to start a forum by several people, so I thought I would give it a try.

Meanwhile, I am in communication with the producer that optioned my novels. We even met for coffee on Christmas Day when we were both in Houston visiting our families. Though we still want to pitch a TV show, someone else is very interested in having their production company make the books into movies. So we'll see how all this goes down.

The trilogy will also be pitched to the big NYC publishing houses at some point in the near future. What will happen has yet to be seen, but this is a very fun and exciting endeavor to say the least. A lot of you have told me how much you want to see the books in every book store, so I'm working on making that happen with my literary agent.

I had a very exciting moment this New Year's Eve when I stood next to a roaring bonfire under the gorgeous Texas sky. The Blue Moon was shining brightly and the world around me was painted in hues of blue and black. A bunch of people were gathered around the fire, including my husband, nephew, and some of my closest friends. When the New Year arrived, we kissed and hugged and laughed.

My husband shouted his traditional farewell to the old year, loudly exclaiming, "Good-bye, 2009! You sucked!" I turned to him, grinned, and said, "No, it didn't." He blinked, then laughed. "I got so used to saying that, it just came out automatically."

I walked up to the fire with my nephew and we tossed small pieces of paper into the fire. On them were written the negative things in our lives we felt ready to let go of. My list was very short.

Later, my nephew and I went on a two day marathon of zombie movies. Afterward, I handed him copies of the first two zombie books.

"Wow! Autographed by my aunt!" He grinned, then said, "If they make it into a movie, have Megan Fox in it. And me!"

It was a fun moment and a reminder of how far I have come. I'm walking in the footsteps of many writers who have gone before me. I have learned so much from them along the way and continue to do so. I look at how far I have come and recognize how far I have yet to go. I am a work in progress, learning as I go.

Again, thank you to all the fans for your support. You are amazing!


One Last Thing

You can check out a new review for As The World Dies: Fighting to Survive at Bitten by Books. It got four stars!! I'm very happy about that.

Pretty When She Dies got three and a half stars for its review.

They are both very good reviews and I am quite proud of them. One thing did make me laugh though.

It was this comment:

Skillful characterizations occur throughout the narrative, other than the slightly over-the-top depiction of Amaliya’s father and the family members at the trailer in the beginning of the book.

I had more than one person tell me that they felt I had spied on their families and put them in the book. Frankly, I thought I dialed it back a little. Texas rednecks can be quite fun and awesome in their own way of thinking. You may not agree with them, but they can be highly entertaining.

Anyway, that is my early morning ramble on this January morning. 2010 is still unfurling its wings and getting ready to fly. I just hope my saddle on this bird is strapped on right. I have a feeling it is going to be one helluva ride.